Monthly Archives: November 2016

The old Masonite site may turn into a winery. Plans got a boost after the Ukiah Valley Sanitation District said yes to new sewer hook-ups for the project. The site has a pipe manufacturer there, Factory Pipe. There are 43 acres of vacant land the owner, Ross Liberty says he wants to turn into an industrial park. The name of the winery has not been released, but word is they have vineyards in northern Mendocino County and a winery in Paso Robles already. They are in the negotiations stage right now. The sewer hookups happened after the director of water and sewer utilities for the city of Ukiah gave a presentation to the City Council.

A police officer recovering after a dog bite that happened during a call to a disturbance at the Ukiah Community Center. Police say an officer got a call to the Food Bank and Community Center due to a man with 2 dogs causing a disturbance and that he wouldn’t leave. The officer spoke to the man who he says was drunk and arrested him on suspicion of public intoxication. One of the man’s dogs bit the officer on the leg and forearm, then the dogs were put into quarantine at the Mendocino County Animal Shelter. The cop was treated at Ukiah Valley Medical Center for his injuries.

A man from San Leandro has been arrested after a 9 year old girl was molested on a commuter train. The Mercury News reports (http://bayareane.ws/2gqeg2C) the girl was headed to San Francisco and the man sat next to her, touching her inappropriately on the leg and buttocks. A family member got in the middle of the two and called police when they got off the train at the Bay Fair Station. BART police got on at another stop and caught the guy, Marcus Brown, who was still on the train. They also found someone else who witnessed the whole thing. Brown’s charged with suspicion of sexual battery and annoying or molesting a child. He’s also been given a prohibition order that forbids him from riding BART for up to a year.

The Ukiah Winter Shelter needs volunteers in order to get up and running in a timely manner. The shelter to open mid-December as half the volunteers it needs. Homeless Services Action Group says they have 17 volunteers of the 40 they need. The volunteers job will be to interview incoming residents at a couple of intake centers not at the shelter. The info will got into a statewide database and direct applicants to the shelter if space is available. Those who are the most vulnerable, those who are disabled, have young children or are elderly—will be given priority, with the rest served on a first-come-first-served basis. The intake centers are separate so the nearby neighborhood won’t experience emotional tension from the intake process.

Police on the lookout for whoever was involved in the armed robbery of a convenience store in Middletown Monday. Police looking for an unknown man who went into the Store 24 after 10 p.m. A clerk at the shop tells police the man had a gun and demanded cash. Surveillance photos show the suspect wearing all black with a full face mask, with only his eyes showing. He got away with some cash and took off on foot, last seen south along Highway 29. The man is described as about 5’10” 200 pounds. They ask anyone with info to call the Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit.

A multi year project investigating the gene flow of Tule Elk at UC Davis involves a swath of land in Lake and Colusa counties. Researchers are picking up elk poop in their multi-year project with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Scientists at UCDavis School of Veterinary Medicine are analyzing the poop for genetic data. They say they hope that will help them come up with their range in the area and how their genes move across the landscape. It will also help identify if and where barriers to elk migration exist and to help give conservation planners a clearer idea of where to focus their efforts.

A massive project is proposed to fix the San Francisco Bay and the Delta network of rivers and marshes. Many native fish are now extinct, known as a so-called “sixth extinction,” which is said to be the most dire definition of ecosystem collapse. The Delta has been shrinking over the last 100 years or so as rivers and mountain tributaries are diverted to irrigate Central Valley farms and areas of the San Francisco Bay. Orcas are said to be starving because of a lack of Chinook salmon. Seals and fish-eating birds are also starving. So some state agencies are working on a way to replumb the region which supplies about half of California’s water. The work to recalibrate water flows, but the plan’s been stagnant for twenty years or more. The first part of the plan is not expected to be done until next summer.

A massive payout by Pacific Gas & Electric for neighboring cities and a school district that’ll be affected by the closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. The utility announced its $85 million dollar deal for economic support in the region when the plant in the Central Coast shuts down in 2025. That means the area will lose income in the form of property taxes and a loss of plant workers that could affect local businesses. The agreement for San Luis Obispo County, a coalition of local cities and the San Luis Coastal Unified School District. The California Public Utilities Commission still has to approve the deal.

Police in Northern Calif. have found a couple from Yuba City who got stuck in the snow on their way to a mountainous area last weekend. The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office reports searchers finding Rory and Susan Holloter in their truck Monday. The couple, both in their 60’s got stuck Sunday. They had texted relatives saying they got stuck in the snow. The couple had 2 sleeping bags and some food on them.

A fat cat in California named “Fat Boy” has been rescued from a power pole. The black and white fatty rescued from 45 feet up in Fresno where he was hanging out for nine days. His owner says he’s not sure how the cat got up there, and when they called him, he’d just meow, but stay. The fire department along with P,G & E went to where the cat was stuck, climbed up, put Fat Boy in a crate and lowered him down. They had to de-energize the 12,000 volt power line before heading up. 250 homes lost power for a few hours too.

A woman from Covelo has been arrested for DUI after a fatal crash Thanksgiving night. The CHP reports Davna Reynolds was in a Toyota Tacoma pickup Thursday night just before Midnight when she hit a fence. Her passenger was killed in the crash into the six-foot-tall wire fence which she ended up dragging behind her for about 600 feet. The passenger’s name’s not yet been released, but the CHP says it was a man from Covelo. Cops say they think Reynolds was drinking before the crash.

A man in Clearlake has been killed in a home invasion over the holiday weekend. Police say the victim, who’s name’s not been released was taken to the hospital by friends after he was shot in the chest Friday night. Police say they went to the home where a reported altercation happened and found two other men had been at the home, one of them brought a semiautomatic firearm. Police say as they entered the house, they told those in the house to get on the ground. One refused and during a struggle with a man with the gun, the firearm went off several times and hit him. The two suspects got away.

A man from Windsor gets his stolen truck back on Thanksgiving thanks to a bunch of people who found out about the ripoff on Facebook. Nick Keresey says someone took off in his pickup so he posted a picture of his truck with its license plate last Monday and his Facebook friends and some family started sharing the post as many as 500 times. He had a picture of the suspect within a day and two days later had some of his personal items back, that had been found in garbage cans at a Santa Rosa car wash where someone posted seeing the truck. Cops got involved and an arrest was made Thursday and Keresey got his truck back that night.

The Mendocino Marijuana Eradication Team have come across more than 3 dozen pot plants, three pounds of dried or bagged processed marijuana and paraphernalia they say was used for growing. The task force at the home of a Willits Unified School board of trustee member Laurie Harris, armed with a search warrant. Court papers say officers went to the home regarding a pot growing complaint and one of them spotted 12-foot tall marijuana plants growing behind the home that were five feet around with massive amounts of buds. Harris says she has a medical recommendation, but she had more than the allowed amount for a patient. It will now be up to the DA to decide if Harris will be charged with any crime. But deputies destroyed all marijuana above the 10 pound limit, which is legal under Calif. law.

A man from Rio Dell has been arrested for several armed robberies in Humboldt County. Rio Dell police officers say Christian Shepard was seen driving Saturday and when they tried pulling him over for a routine stop he sped off, went off-road and ended up out in the woods overnight. They found the guy early yesterday and arrested him. He was first taken to a hospital for possible hypothermia, then arrested on 10 counts of robbery, felon in possession of a firearm, negligent discharge of a weapon, terrorist threats and violation of probation. He was being held without bail.

Fort Bragg’s in on the wave of the future, agreeing to install four Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations in City-owned parking. There’s been talk on the matter for several years, but now city staff announced the plan at last week’s City Council meeting. Money for the stations comes from the Mendocino Land Trust thru grant funds. Staff has proposed the locations that the council said yes to. They include in the City Hall parking lot and the Footlighters Theater parking lot. There will be two stations at each location.

The Dry Creek Band of Pomo Indians is restoring part of a creek that runs through the Dry Creek Rancheria into the Russian River. The tribe has applied for a $3.5 million state grant so it can restore more of the creek so trout may start to thrive there again. The tribe’s public works manager says they’ve been trying to raise the funds for the work. It comes at the same time they’re working on Dry Creek, with help of the Sonoma County Water Agency. That will restore a six-mile stretch of fish habitat. The money would come from a Calif. ballot measure, Prop. 1, approved 2 years ago for more than $7 billion in bonds to go to water supply projects. The tribe will find out next month if it’s getting the grant.

A man who died at a remote property in Knights Valley has been identified. The Sonoma County sheriff’s office reports Cesar Gonzalez-Rivas of Geyserville was stabbed several times during the Thanksgiving Day assault off Highway 128 between Geyserville and Calistoga. A man from Michigan, Arent Bradt was in jail, held without bail on suspicion of murder. Police found Gonzalez-Rivaz on the ground and Bradt nearby. Gonzalez-Rivas was pronounced dead at the scene.

A man from Maryland has been arrested after police say he threatened to blow up a commercial airplane while it prepared for takeoff at Oakland International Airport. Police say the man told passengers on the Southwest flight, headed to Baltimore, that he planned to blow up the plane when it was in the sky, but the captain was alerted and returned to the gate. The man was taken into custody at the gate, and there were no explosives on him, or on the flight.

Recycling rates in the state are off and locally rates were mixed. Lake Co News reports on the latest data released by CalRecycle showing while the economy in Calif. Got healthier last year, more trash headed to landfills than a year ago. But there was also a drop in the statewide recycling rate. CalRecycle says disposal rates usually go up with a stronger economy. Last year the state dumped 33.2 million tons of material compared to 31.2 million tons in 2014 for residential, business and industry sectors.

More info’s been released about a solo car crash over the weekend that killed two men. It happened early Saturday morning at the intersection of Highway 20 and Highway 29. The CHP says a 27-year-old Lakeport man and a 21-year-old man from Kelseyville died after the driver, the man from Lakeport didn’t make it around a roundabout and hit the roundabout head on. The car went airborne, then landed on its roof in a walnut orchard. The driver and the passenger were trapped in the car and dead. CHP reporting speed was a factor in the crash, but so far they’re not sure if drugs or alcohol were a factor. Both victims were wearing seat belts.

Some complaints at an amusement park in Japan after it had 5,000 dead fish on display under the ice at a skating rink. Space World was deluged with criticism on social media after they opened their rink a couple weeks ago. The rink was closed yesterday for good. There were more than 2 dozen types of dead fish under the rink, called the “Ice Aquarium”, an “attraction never heard about.” The general manager of Space World says they had so many critical messages posted on social media, but they were just trying to give the feeling of being in the ocean, but says now they’re extremely remorseful. The fish were dead before being placed in the water. Now they’ll hold a memorial service for the fish once they’re taken out of the ice.

A woman in Arizona who texted someone by accident, thinking it was her grandson, made good on her offer and had the stranger over for Thanksgiving. Wanda Dench and her family welcomed 17 year old Jamal Hinton to their Phoenix home after the texting mistake a couple weeks ago, that went viral on social media. Dench says she thought she included her grandson’s number in a group text as she invited relatives to the holiday dinner, but it was Hinton who got the note. They exchanged pictures and realized it was the wrong number, but Hinton asked if he could come anyway, and Dence said of course, that’s what grandma’s do. After the exchange was posted on twitter, Dench says she got about 600 texts from others asking if they, too, could grab a plate this Thanksgiving.

Police across the state are on the lookout for two of the four men who broke out of a California Jail Wednesday night. Police say the men cut their way through the bars of a second story window then rappelled down the side of the jail using a makeshift rope of bedding and clothing. Two of the men were recaptured almost immediately, but the other two Rogelio Chavez, and Lanon Campbell are still on the run. Both Chavez and Campbell were facing false imprisonment and weapons charges. Local agencies have searched for the men with the help of dogs and thermal imaging to no avail. They were last seen wearing their orange prison jumpsuits. Anyone who sees them is advised to contact police immediately.

Police have arrested a Cloverdale man who they believe was responsible for a pair of robberies in Sonoma County this week and the attempted armed robbery of a Lakeport grocery store on Sunday. Thirty-six-year-old Jack Owens Jr. was arrested Wednesday while coming out of a gas station that he just robbed. Cloverdale Police say they also suspect that he robbed two grocery stores, Bruno’s in Lakeport and the Cloverdale Food Center on Sunday. Police also arrested a female passenger who was in the car with Owens. She’s also under investigation for her knowledge of the robberies Lakeport police are also assisting in the investigation.

Next Saturday December 3rd, walk and Bike Mendocino will provide bicycle education and safe riding tips. After the brief but informative lesson walk and bike staff will lead a Christmas themed bike ride around town. The event is designed to make citizens of every age and experience level to become more confident riders.

California ski resorts thankful for the snow they’re getting that many resorts across the rest of the western half of the country are not getting. Three resorts in the Tahoe area opening this weekend. Black Friday not just a big day for shopping, it’s a big day for skiing as well.

A Ukiah man was arrested Tuesday after he was allegedly was caught using his cell phone to film up a woman’s skirt. The Ukiah Police Department says the victim told store officials that she was shopping when she looked down and saw a man bent down with his arm extended out with a cell phone facing up her skirt. That’s when the woman says she grabbed his cell phone and went to authorities. The 26 year old man was placed under citizens arrested and booked into the Mendocino county jail.

Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Richard Henderson has announced that he will retire at the end of the year. Judge Henderson was first elected in 2000. Henderson didn’t give a reason for the retirement but says he is grateful for the trust that the community placed in him over the years.

Ukiah’s first outdoor skating rink will open next week. The rink in downtown Ukiah will open next Sunday and stay open daily through January 8th. The 300 block of school street where it’s located will be closed while the rink is open.

The name of a woman killed after her car went off a Jenner-area cliff has been identified by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office. Britt Erlandson of San Rafael was found Tuesday around noon about 500 feet down the cliff, where she had couldn’t be seen because it was obscured by trees. The Monte Rio Fire Chief says she looked to have been thrown from the car as went down about 800 feet then landing on a beach below Highway 1. Apparently it’s the scene of multiple crashes and even suicides over the years. Another driver in Jenner, in the fog, crashed Sunday. He went down a cliffside, about 150 feet, but climbed up for help. He had major injuries.

A man in San Diego’s busted for using teenagers to smuggle drugs into the U-S. Twenty-two-year-old Roberto Torres Jr. in court yesterday facing 10 years to life in prison and a $10 million fine. He admitted he was part of a group who recruited dozens of minors from Imperial Valley high schools and other places to run drugs from Mexico into Calif. They were using Facebook to coordinate plans. Four others have also pleaded guilty to taking part in the operation.

A group that wants California to secede from the United States has taken their proposed petition to the next step. The Yes California Independence Campaign wants voters to decide in the mid-term elections, November 2018, to vote to become independent of the union in spring 2019. The idea first came to light two years ago, but has picked up support after Republican Donald Trump won the presidential election. The group says they’ve got 15,000 Twitter followers, 30,000 Facebook followers and 13,000 volunteers to collect signatures for their petition.

Police in Berkeley say some customers at a local Starbucks helped catch some armed robbers who stole a woman’s laptop. The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/2f3hPP4) the two men from Oakland were arrested at the coffee shop about a mile from the University of California, Berkeley campus. Cops say witnesses saw the man steal the woman’s laptop and run to leave, but one of the customers blocked the door. Then the robber pulled out a gun so they moved from the door, but another witness saw a getaway car and driver waiting nearby and police caught them.

The Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency director has been appointed to the First 5 Mendocino Commission. The Board of Supervisors named Tammy Moss Chandler to the commission. She’s got more than 15 years of experience in local government management and was the executive director for First 5 San Mateo County and First 5 Merced County. She has 2 Masters degrees, in Public Health and an MBA in Accounting and Finance.

There’ll be a White Christmas in part of Ukiah, anyway… construction’s begun on “Ukiah on Ice” the first ever seasonal outdoor ice skating rink. The city of Ukiah is partnering with Ukiah Valley Medical Center to put up the rink using money that came from multiple local sponsors. Look for it in the 300 block of School Street in downtown Ukiah which means it’ll be closed to traffic thru mid-January. Ukiah on Ice opens next Sunday, Dec. 4th and will be open every day, even on holidays, through Sunday, Jan. 8th.

Mendocino County’s Planning Commission says yes to limiting chain store development. The Commission approved a draft ordinance to keep rural character intact, this goes against county residents desires who say it doesn’t go far enough for individual communities. If it passes, the ordinance creates a so-called “Community Character Combining District” to require chain stores and restaurants conform with local architectural character of the rural communities they build in.

A goodbye to a local, but not really… Assemblyman Bill Dodd, who’s been representing Lake County has been elected as a State Senator and will no longer have the county as part of his territory. Many members of the community along with local and state representatives were in Middletown Monday night to say farewell. Dodd has until the end of the year to fill out his Assembly member term, then he will go to represent the state Senate in District 3. His new district covers more of Sonoma County, all of Napa County, and extends into the Sacramento Valley and Bay Area.

Some in the state concerned about an early tax break for medical marijuana patients going away. State reps moving to reverse a recent ruling they say may cost millions to the state next year. The Chair of the Board of Equalization says they’re trying to figure out a fix and have lopped in the Attorney General for a more definitive ruling. It’s about those who’ve got a doctor’s recommendation for marijuana and a county-issued ID card saying they’re a patient who doesn’t have to pay the sales tax to the state because of Proposition 64. The measure passed with 56% of the vote Nov. 8th.

Part of a new law passed in the presidential election, makes stealing a gun worth less than $950, a felony. Prop. 63 takes away the misdemeanor charge under 2014’s Prop. 47, and turns it into a felony. It makes staling a gun at lower than $950 a felony, that number is the state threshold for grand theft. Those found guilty face up to 16 months in prison instead of up to a year for a misdemeanor conviction.

The dad of a girl drowned in a baptismal pool at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Healdsburg is charged with murder and felony child abuse. As we reported Gerardo Ordaz was found in the back parking lot of a police station, near the church. He was naked and holding his dead daughter in his arms, alongside his 9 year old son. The judge in his case has ordered a psychological exam for the man whose lawyer doubted his competency. The girl, Maria Jose Ordaz‑Chavarria died earlier this week, police believe, at the hands of her dad. Police have not released a possible motive. An autopsy was performed, but the results haven’t been released.

The city of Healdsburg looks to curb outdoor marijuana growing. The city council votes unanimously on the urgency ordinance to ban growing recreational marijuana outside, plus they only want to allow indoor grows along with stringent health and safety provisions in place. It comes just after Proposition 64 passed. Sonoma, Windsor and Healdsburg now all have provisions to ban non-medical marijuana gardens for 45 days at first, but with an option to have the ban in place as long as two years.

A woman in Clearlake has a warrant for her arrest on DUI and obstructing a peace officer charges. Police say Jennifer Marie Morse missed her Arraignment and Violation of Probation Hearing for the September incident where police get a call for a probation search and arrest warrant service for several people. She was one of them. She was taken to jail for being high. Her lawyer showed up in court, but Morse was a no-show.

More info on the shooting of a homeless man in Ukiah. Police say a 62-year-old resident shot and killed the man he says he saw digging through a dumpster near his rental home. He told police, when he called dispatch, it was in self-defense. The Mendocino County sheriff’s office says they booked Steven Ryan on suspicion of murder for $500,000 bail. Police say they found zero evidence the unarmed 20-year-old transient was a threat to the suspected killer. The dead man’s name has not been released. Police say Ryan called Monday morning from a vineyard property on East Perkins Street where he rents a home. He says he saw the homeless man going thru the dumpster and yelled for him to leave and when they started to walk toward each other, Ryan shot. Police say he fired multiple times as he stood 40 feet from the victim.

The next Lake County Long-Term Recovery Task Force meeting is set for after the holiday. For victims of wildfires, the meeting next Wednesday, November 30, 2016, at 6:00 pm at the Lower Lake Schoolhouse Museum. As usual the Lake County District 5 Supervisor, Rob Brown, and County Administrative Officer, Carol Huchingson will be there. They’re co-coordinators for the Clayton Fire Recovery effort. They will update folks on debris clean-up and notify them about a holiday event December 4th.

A man from Massachusetts says he was sick of the seagulls relieving themselves on his dock and boat so he wants a neighbor who he says attracted the birds to pay up. Frank Yacino suing Lisa Pezzella in small claims court saying she was feeding the birds on Webster Lake in Webster and the birds left droppings on his property so he couldn’t enjoy himself on the water. He wants $1,500 so he can get new seat covers for his boat, plus $500 more for time spent pressure-washing his dock. The town has ordered Pezzella to stop feeding the birds. Her lawyer says she never did it, but video says otherwise.

A woman in Ohio’s in trouble with the law for prostituting herself, but not for much… Cops in Youngstown arrested Crystal Hotlosz for selling sex for $60 and some nachos. They say they busted her during an undercover operation Monday in Beaver Township. Police say an officer texted Hotlosz after seeing an ad online. An undercover officer met with her in a parking lot of a Mexican restaurant where she asked for more money and the nachos. She’s charged with solicitation and possession of criminal tools.

The Unemployment rate ticked up slightly in Lake and Mendocino Counties in October. The State Employment Development Department says Lake’s unemployment rate for October was 6.4 percent, up from 6 percent in September, but still better than the 7.3 percent in October of 2015. Mendocino County was at 4.8 percent unemployment in October, up from 4.6 in September but down from 5.2 this time last year. In all, California had an unemployment rate of 5.5 percent for October; that’s the fourth month in a row it has registered that same rate.

The Mendocino Broadband Alliance says the California Public Utilities Commission is considering Mendocino County getting “party” status. With local landline phones considered unreliable, the County got input in hearings held around the state, including in Ukiah, regarding communications access and Mendocino submitted recommendations to improve it by, in part, holding the phone and cable companies accountable. The PUC is set to take it up issue Dec. 12th but the Broadband Alliance says it is facing strong opposition.

The wife of Mendocino County Third District Supervisor Tom Woodhouse has filed a petition to put her husband in a temporary conservatorship. The Willits News reports Carlyn Woodhouse filed on her husband’s behalf. She could file for Tom to be released from his duties as a supervisor. The court papers say Woodhouse is refusing to take medications for bipolar disorder, to control manic behaviors, and for his cholesterol and blood pressure to avoid the probability of heart problems and stroke. The papers also say he was behaving erratically in recent weeks. He was Tased during a domestic disturbance call at his house last month. He went to jail that night charged with several crimes, but he was instead released to the County’s Mental Health Department for evaluation.

One man has been shot and killed and a person of interest questioned after an altercation in Ukiah. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office reports it happened yesterday before lunch time. Someone called police to say their next door neighbor was shot. The victim, a man described as in his 20s, was pronounced dead. No word on a suspect so far.

A dad in Healdsburg is blamed for the drowning death of his 4 year old daughter. Police say Gerardo Mendoza Ordaz brought his daughter to the police station Sunday night after drowning her in the baptismal pool at a nearby church. They say he showed up in the back parking lot of the station, naked, yelling for help. He had another kid with him, a 9 year old boy. The girl was rushed to the hospital, but died. Police say the man took the kids to the unlocked sanctuary of a church in Healdsurg. The boy is the only witness. Police say they think he purposely drowned his daughter, but they have no motive. He was held without bail.

Firefighters trying to get to a car that had plunged off a cliff onto the beach near Jenner. Police dispatchers got a call yesterday afternoon about a car that had gone off Highway 1 and down a high cliff. State parks officials found whoever made the call, then found a silver and blue Subaru on the beach between Jenner and Timber Cove. No word if anyone was inside the car.

Police searching for a man they say ripped off a grocery store in Cloverdale. Police say he went to the counter to buy a bottle of wine, then pulled out a gun, jumped over the counter and shot at the clerk as he made his getaway. Police say the clerk at Cloverdale Food Center was not hit when they chased after the man to get a description of his car. There was a single shot that shattered the store’s glass door. The crook described as a white man, about 6-foot-1, 270 pounds wearing a camouflage knit cap, a black and red hoodie and black pants.

The dad of a soldier from Northern California recently killed in Afghanistan says when they were on their way to get their son’s ashes, they felt disrespected and hurt by passengers who booed them on an airplane. Stewart Perry, his wife and daughter were headed to Philadelphia from Sacramento with a transfer in Phoenix to receive the remains of his son, but the flight was delayed. He says the flight crew was afraid the Gold Star family would miss their connecting flight so they made an announcement for passengers to stay seated to let a “special military family” deplane first. They booed at him and complained about their first class tickets.

More than 102 million trees are dead thanks to the California drought. The U-S Forest Service’s latest aerial survey showed 36 million more trees have died off since May, with a 100 percent increase since a year before. The U-S Agriculture Secretary says the dead or dying trees mean a higher risk for wildfires and difficulty when it comes to fighting the fires. It’s been five years of drought in the state and a record low mountain snowpack combined with warm temperatures. The Gov. Jerry Brown has put together a task force to come up with methods for taking the trees down which are a threat to motorists and communities.

Discussion planned on Anderson Springs, which was seriously damaged by the Valley Fire. The Board of Supervisors is taking up a proposal on Anderson Springs at their Thanksgiving week meeting tomorrow. They’ll hear from the Community Development Director on a resolution on the rebuild at Anderson Springs. More than 180 structures on 130 parcels were hit by the fire and either totally destroyed or damaged in September 2015. The director says each of the lots has different issues so they’ve come up with a comprehensive guide on how to move forward.

A composite sketch of a man the Lakeport Police Dept. says may be responsible for a robbery at a grocery store has been released to the public. Cops say it happened around lunchtime yesterday at Bruno’s Shop Smart. A man walked in and approached the customer service counter and showed a gun then demanded money and ran off. Lakeport Police’s sketch artist came up with the drawing, which you can see at Lake Co News dot com. He’s described as a white man with a brown mustache, in his 30’s or 40’s about 5 foot, 10, 220 to 240 pounds. Cops say he was wearing a blue beanie with yellow writing on it, black mirrored sunglasses, a black canvas jacket, brown button up collared shirt, blue utility jeans and brown work boots. They also say to consider him armed and dangerous.

The first buy of land has been completed by the Lake County Land Trust in the Big Valley Wetlands preservation area. The 34-acre shoreline and inland wetland purchased from George and Lisa Melo last month. The Land Trust saying it’s hoped it will be a way to protect the last big piece of wetland/riparian habitats across from Clear Lake. It goes from Clear Lake State Park, west to Lakeport and features habitat lands with lakeshore vegetation and mature oaks used by a variety of species. The Land Trust also owns the Rodman Preserve near Nice and the Rabbit Hill chaparral preserve in Middletown, plus there are conservation easements on three privately owned parcels too.

One person is dead and another injured after a small plane crashed into a home in the San Francisco Bay Area. The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Dept. says they got a call to Moss Beach near the Half Moon Bay Airport Friday morning to the crash that had two people on board. The FAA is investigating.

Five teenage girls have been arrested in Oakland for several robberies. Police say the girls ages 14, 15 and 16 may be connected to as many as 20 strong-arm robberies or attempted robberies. Apparently the girls would go after women walking alone, one of which reported being punched in the face. Others say they fell to the ground as they struggled to hang on to their stuff. The five girls admitted they were involved in the heists, saying they wanted to get money. Cops say they started about a week and a half ago, with around 10 of the crimes happening last Monday, mostly near BART stations. They face charges of robbery and possession of stolen property.

A man from Cloverdale has been cited after a gun goes off while he’s struggling with a teenager. Police say it started when the 17 year old boy confronted the man, Derrick Brandt, thinking Brandt had vandalized his truck. But Brandt told the kid to leave and when he said no, he got out a semiautomatic pistol. The two started shoving each other and the gun went off, into the air. The teen ran off, no one was hurt. Brandt got a ticket and has to go to court next month.

A woman in a headscarf says after a recent hike she found her car was vandalized and burglarized, plus there was a note left behind with colorful language which we cannot repeat on the radio. The woman hiking Mission Peak Regional Preserve last Monday. Nicki Pancholy of Milpitas says she was wearing a bandana around her head as sun protection and that she’s not Muslim. She says she was shocked but that immediate forgiveness washed over her and she started to pray for the suspected vandal. Her purse was taken while she was climbing. She’s climbing the peak every day for 65 days to fight for world peace.

New guidelines have been agreed to by the University of California for sexual harassment for its governing board. The new rules after a tape revealing a regent asking a female employee if he could hold her breasts went viral. Media mogul Norman Pattiz the regent accused in the tape. He also voted for the new standards that were unanimously approved last Thursday during a two-day UC Board of Regents meeting in San Francisco. A community member in the public gallery heckled him, shouting “Pervert!”. Now that the rules are passed it means all regents have to take the university’s sexual harassment prevention training program. Employees at the UC’s 10 campuses also have to.

The old Los Angeles Clippers owner decides to toss his lawsuit against the NBA, his wife and others who he had claimed conspired to illegally sell the team for $2 billion. Donald Sterling’s lawyer says they filed to have the federal appeals case dismissed after a settlement was reached, which they’ve not divulged. Sterling had been banned from the NBA for life a couple years ago after racist remarks he supposedly made were made public.

The City of Ukiah in a holding pattern waiting to see if the Ukiah Valley Sanitation District will enter mediation in the lawsuit against the city. The district’s board of directors met last Thursday with some residents there asking for them to entirely drop the suit. The board gave 10 minutes for public comment. The City’s asking for settlement negotiations as quickly as possible and apparently the Sanitation District agreed to negotiate, but they want the talks to be private and they want city representatives to sign a confidentiality agreement.

An extension’s been offered by the SBA for Clayton fire survivors for low-interest loans for rebuilding homes. The Small Business Administration had a Nov. 7th deadline, but now it’s today instead. The loans are for homeowners, business owners and nonprofits. Businesses and nonprofits can get up to $2 million for repairs or replacement of damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and other assets, or for improvements, Residents can get up to $200,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, or homeowners and renters can get up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property. For more info, visit:

2 men who were found guilty for a 2011 shooting in Clearlake where a child was killed and several people injured, get a modified sentence. The two still won’t get out of prison alive after the Lake County Superior Court gave Paul Braden and Orlando Lopez Jr. nearly 250 years instead of 300 plus. State law required the amended sentences. The two convicted for shooting into a crowd at an apartment in Clearlake. 4-year-old Skyler Rapp was killed and five others were injured, including his mom and her boyfriend.

A katana sword reported missing from a card shop in Anchorage has been returned. Someone dressed as a Ninja was accused of ripping off BOSCO’S Comic, Cards & Games. Someone bought the sword off the thief and brought it back into the shop after finding out it was stolen. An employee at the store called police. Nobody’s been arrested. The sword was slightly damaged.

A man in New Jersey has been arrested for getting more than 300 toll violations and not paying. They added up to more than $20,000. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reports James Clicerio, of Old Bridge, New Jersey was pulled over after an officer found he had five EZ Pass accounts and 323 violations worth almost $21,000. He faces larceny and obstructing governmental administration charges.

The emergency declaration in Lake County has been continued because of last summer’s wildfires. This is a standard declaration so the work can continue to be funded for cleanup. The board also got an update on that cleanup as it relates to the Clayton Fire. The Lake County Health Officer Dr. Karen Tait and Environmental Health Director Ray Ruminski spoke to the board saying the cleanup is nearly done. The 3,900 acre fire took down 300 structures including about 200 homes. Lake Co News reports nearly 90 of those have been cleared out and another 52 are set for cleanup. The next thing that happens for the cleared sites is soil sampling, erosion control and some damage repair.

Sonoma County is saying yes to small marijuana gardens in rural residential areas after a medical cannabis zoning ordinance was approved by the Planning Commission. It comes after a dispute between community members and growers. The residents say they don’t want pot to be grown around their homes. The commission voted unanimously for gardens and other related businesses for unincorporated areas outside the county’s nine cities. It comes ahead of regulations set by the state for medical marijuana.

Residents in Windsor out of luck regarding marijuana legalization in their hometown. Even though it’s now legal to have some weed and to grow it, in Windsor, the Town Council says no to growing. It was a unanimous vote by the council for an emergency ordinance prohibiting outdoor pot gardens, following in the footsteps of Sonoma. The ban to be in effect for 45 days, but it can go for up to two years. The new law that came from Proposition 64, means Calif. residents can grow up to six plants, but local jurisdictions are allowed to ban outdoor cultivation and restrict indoor grows.

Congressman John Garamendi says he’s announced a bill to protect National Guard members from the Pentagon trying to get back bonuses and other incentives given to them to reenlist. Garamendi, a member of the House Armed Services Committee has introduced the National Guard Pay Integrity Act which he says could protect up to 10,000 soldiers who signed up to serve the country. It comes after reports the Dept. of Defense was demanding cash incentives and bonuses that were erroneously paid to them so they’d reenlist, be returned, some decades later. The legislation also looks to protect student loan payments made on Guardsmen’s behalf as a means of recruitment.

Some medical marijuana users in Calif. getting a tax break. Certain purchases may now be exempt from sales taxes since Prop 64 was passed. It means a 15 percent excise tax starting in January of 2018 for those who buy weed and any marijuana product, including medical marijuana. It also means a tax holiday for anyone buying weed with a medical marijuana identification card from the California Department of Public Health.

A judge says no, temporarily to agree to pimping charges against those who operate Backpage.com. The state atty general is trying to prosecute the former owners Michael Lacey and James Larkin and the paper’s current CEO, Carl Ferrer. The judge has set another hearing though after the men were charged by California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who calls the site an online brothel. The judge says Harris doesn’t have the proper authority to bring the charges due to the federal Communications Decency Act which gives immunity to website operators for content posted by users.

A delay for the opening of the new homeless shelter for the winter in Ukiah. The Homeless Services Action Group reports the shelter won’t open before Thanksgiving after all. The executive director of the group says they still have to get some permits and hire staffers. They hope to open the Inland Valley Emergency Winter Shelter by December. They’re looking for 30 adults and teen volunteers for intake. They look for one two-hour shift per week, from 4:45 p.m. until 6:45 p.m., and each intake takes about 15 minutes.

It’s free to go to parks in Calif. Black Friday. So instead of going to the mall, you can visit any of California’s State Parks for the first ever Green Friday. The parks dept. is working with two advocacy groups offering 13,000 passes for free admission and parking at 116 out of 279 state parks Nov. 25th. For more info and to see a complete list of the parks involved, visit www.greenfriday.org. The free passes are offered on a first-come, first-served basis based on each park’s capacity.

An ex librarian at a Florida elementary school says she’s going to court over an exploding toilet. Anne Burson says after maintenance crews worked on water lines at Tarpon Springs Fundamental Elementary in 2012, she was hit by porcelain shards that came off the exploding toilet. She says she was injured when she tried to flush the toilet.

A man from Ukiah had to have a stun gun used on him before an arrest for a high-speed chase last week. Police say one of their officers saw an SUV on East Gobbi Street last Thursday and tried to pull it over after recognizing it from a chase in September. Once again the guy wouldn’t pull over and they had to chase him down. He was finally caught after spinning out. But officers say he wouldn’t listen to their commands so the used a Tazer on him. He yelled at them that he had a gun and told officers they should shoot him, acting as if he was reaching for a gun. Mark Lucas was arrested on suspicion of felony evading, assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, violating his probation, driving without a license and for a warrant out of Nevada.

The name of a woman who died in a crash election day on Highway 20, has been released. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office reports Erika Kleit of Weed died in the head on crash Nov. 8. They say it happened just after noon when her 2016 Honda Civic was westbound on Highway 20 near Clearlake Oaks when she was hit by a pickup driven by Raymondo Meza of Chico. The CHP says Meza crossed over the highway’s double-yellow lines and into Kleit’s car. He was arrested on DUI under a combination of alcohol and drugs. He and his passenger also went to a hospital with major injuries.

The threat of wildfires looks to be getting a reprieve as Cal Fire announces winter conditions. The Sonoma Lake Napa Unit has transitioned to winter preparedness in Sonoma, Lake, Napa, Solano, Colusa and Yolo counties. It falls in line with the same transition the last two years, when winter conditions came in November. Across the state, the agency had fought fires in the State Responsibility Area that blackened almost 148,000 acres. There were almost 5,600 fires, more than 1,170 more wildfires this year than normal.

One of the people wanted for the murder of a pot grower in Laytonville has been captured. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s office reports there are now 8 suspects with one in custody. 24 year old Zachary Wuester of Haskell, N.J. busted nearly a week after Jeffrey Settler was found dead in a shed at his property near Laytonville. The U.S. Marshal Service says they cornered then convinced Wuester to surrender, which he did in Willits Monday night. He’s held on $650,000 bail on suspicion of murder and being a fugitive from justice. Three other suspects have been added to the original 5, they’re named as 32 year old Jesse Wells of Binghamton, New York; 25 year old Michael Kane of Pleasantville, New York; and a black guy known only as “Richie”. They say he might be about 25 years old and was possibly from San Diego. The victim’s dad says he’s been working in the area more than a decade after being in Texas. He had hired the workers to trim pot at his garden on a remote property five miles west of the 101 on a dirt road.

A woman facing life in prison for attempted murder after a bar fight in Santa Rosa. In court yesterday a woman testified she was attacked by her romantic rival in a bar, and that the same woman hit her boyfriend in the face with a bottle then drove into him and 3 other people with her minivan. Jessica Garcia-Leos faces five counts of attempted murder and other charges for the Nov. 2015 incident at the old El Rey Night Club.

The protests continue at schools across the country, now a local group gets in on the action. The students at Ukiah High walked out of classes yesterday marching to the Mendocino County Courthouse chanting curse words at the President Elect Donald Trump. They also held up signs with the same message, and others without bad words. Apparently someone drove by and flipped them off so they chased him down. He took off. School officials say they heard about the protest because some students were texting each other that they planned to walk out.

Since recreational pot’s become legal in California, the first person to be released from jail in Mendocino County could soon get his freedom. Micheas Lehnherr’s lawyer filing the paperwork in court to get him released under the new law. It’s reported to be the first appeal filed after Proposition 64 passed. He was arrested in 2014 for possession, which was a felony at that time. He’s already been behind bars for more than six months and was expected to be released.

A man from Willits shot as a 7 year old boy and paralyzed, has died. 29 year old Brandon Maxfield died due to the complications of his condition. He was well known and nationally recognized for his fight against the gunmaker responsible for manufacturing the defective pistol that paralyzed him. Maxfield’s fight against Bryco after his babysitter accidentally shot him in 1994 with a 38 pistol owned by his father.

A high school teacher in Oakland fired years ago for revealing plans for a sex change is now charged with killing a woman, her wife and their adult son. 61 year old Dana Rivers is charged with the death of Patricia Wright and Charlotte Reed and their 19 year old son Benny Diambu-Wright. Police say Rivers was covered in blood and close to leaving the scene on one of the victim’s motorcycle when she was caught. Cops say it may have been a dispute over property. Rivers gained national recognition after going for a sex-change operation to become a woman nearly 20 years ago. When she told school officials what she was doing they suspended, then eventually fired her.

Criminal proceedings against a man accused of failing to register as a sex offender have been suspended until he can be cleared by a doctor. William Lukens lawyer saying the 81 year old’s probably not competent to stand trial. He’s charged with failing to register, Sex Offender Failing to Notify Change of Address, Indecent Exposure and Sexual Battery for the Purpose of Sexual Arousal. It comes after an incident last month at a care home in Lakeport where cops say he brutalized a 73-year-old woman who wasn’t able to defend herself due to serious disabilities. They say the man also exposed himself to a 23-year-old staff member. He has a previous felony conviction for a serious sex offense, and was also in state prison.